MOGADISHU, Monday Kenyan fighter jets have bombed key Al-Shabaab bases, with scores of fighters killed, the African Union (AU) force fighting the extremists has said. The air strikes on the impoverished villages of Anole and Kuday in the southern Lower Juba region are part of the offensive by the 22,000-strong AU mission in Somalia (Amisom), which launched in March a fresh bid to wrest remaining towns from the Islamists. "Amisom forces have conducted airstrikes... as part of a sustained effort to destroy Al-Shabaab's military capabilities," the force said in a statement, adding it was Kenyan air planes that carried out...

At least 30 members of the militant Islamist group al Shabaab have been killed in an air strike on one of their training camps in Somalia, Kenyas military said on Friday. The raid, which took place Thursday evening, targeted an al Shabaab camp in Garbarahey, a district situated in the southwestern Gedo region, which is near the countrys borders with Kenya and Ethiopia. "KDF (Kenya Defence Force) fighter jets attacked an al Shabaab camp, where a meeting was being held," a senior KDF official said. "Initial battle damage assessment indicates more than 30 al Shabaab militants [were] killed, including key...

Unidentified foreign forces have launched a night-time raid on a militant base in the south Somali town of Barawe from the sea, reports say. A spokesman for the al-Shabab Islamist group told Reuters news agency that one of its fighters had been killed during the raid....... Al-Shabab claimed responsibility last month for the deadly attack on a Kenyan shopping mall..... According to the Somali news website Midnimo, two helicopters were also involved in the raid..... "Westerners in boats attacked our base as Barawe beach and one was martyred from our side," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Masab, described as al-Shabab's spokesman for...

A document found after Somali troops killed Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, al Qaeda's former leader in East Africa and a senior Shabaab commander, details a plot to conduct multiple Mumbai-like attacks that target civilians in London. The plot highlights how al Qaeda and Shabaab seek to strike civilian targets outside Somalia, and foreshadowed Shabaab's attack on the Eastgate Mall in Kenya this week. -------------------------------------------------------------------snip--------------------------------------- Fazul said that the "first target" in London would be "Jewish communities with tens of thousands of Jews crammed in a small area" in the Golders Green and Stamford Hill neighborhoods of the city. "Our plan is...

Al-Shabaab, the Somali-based terrorist group that attacked a shopping mall in Kenya, said on Wednesday that foreigners were a "legitimate target". Speaking to the Associated Press (AP), members of the group confirmed that gunmen separated Muslims from others and let the Muslims go. In an email exchange with the news agency, the Al-Qaesa affiliate said the jihadis "carried out a meticulous vetting process" so the Muslims would not be harmed. At least 18 foreigners were killed, including six Britons, citizens from France, Canada, Trinidad, the Netherlands, Australia, Peru, India, Ghana, South Africa and China, when the terrorists entered the Westgate...

Reuters) - One of Somalia's most prominent Islamist rebel commanders, arrested by a regional administration, was flown to the capital Mogadishu on Saturday, where he agreed to hold talks with the federal government about his fate, Somali officials said. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, whose capture was a boost to Mogadishu in its battle against Islamist insurgents, was detained in central Somalia and then taken to the town of Adado. Much of Somalia has been stabilized after two decades of turmoil by a campaign that drove back the militant group al Shabaab. But the federal government, in charge for less than...

Image that accompanied Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's audiotape announcing the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The flag was originally al Qaeda in Iraq's banner, but has been adopted by other al Qaeda affiliated and associated groups. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group. The emir of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (also known as Abu Dua), has announced a new brand for his organization's efforts: the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant." The new name replaces all previous brands used by al Qaeda's affiliates in Iraq and Syria, including the...

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Somalia's al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab rebels Saturday mocked a US offer of up to $33 million for information enabling the arrest of its top leaders, saying they would give 10 camels to anyone who helped locate President Barack Obama. The highest price put up by the US State Department on Thursday was for al Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi aw-Mohamed -- more commonly known as Godane or Abu Zubayr -- with a $7 million bounty for information on where he is hiding. "I can assure you that these kind of things will never dissuade us from continuing the...

Al-Shabaab, the Somali branch of al Qaeda, ousted American jihadi Abu Mansour al-Amriki from the group after he posted online video messages contrary to the terrorist organization's teachings, CNN reported. Al-Amriki, who was born Omar Hammami in a suburb of Mobile, Alabama, was, for a period of time, a key recruiter for the group, attracting Americans of Somali heritage to the African country to fight for the terrorist group. In March, however, al-Amriki posted a video saying he felt like he was at risk. "I feel that my life may be endangered by Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahideen due to some differences...

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in a statement on an Islamist website, urged Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents to fight back against what he called "crusader invaders" after Kenyan forces forced them out of their last urban bastion. Backed by African Union (AU) peacekeepers, government forces have pushed the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents out of the main urban areas they took over in their five-year-old revolt, spurring many Somalis to return to rebuild their country. But the capital Mogadishu remains vulnerable to militant attacks. "Show them the fire of jihad (Islamic holy struggle) and its heat. Chase them with guerrilla...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Investigators probing the London terror bombings are focusing on an elusive British Muslim suspect who is connected to a previous plot to set up a terrorist training camp in rural southern Oregon, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials. Officials told both NBC News and CNN Wednesday that Haroon Rashid Aswat, believed to be a mastermind of the London bombings, is the same British-born Muslim of Indian descent who scouted a Bly, Oregon ranch to set up a terror camp. These officials said Aswat, a Pakistani national being sought for questioning as a person of interest by British authorities,...

Kenyan Muslims in Mombasa have rioted for the second day in a row after a Shabaab-linked cleric who was recently added to the US's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists was gunned down. Shabaab supporters rampaged in Kenya's second largest city after Sheikh Aboud Rogo Mohammed was shot and killed as he was driving with his wife on Aug. 25. Shabaab supporters quickly organized and attacked and looted two churches, torched a government vehicle and other cars, and killed one person. The man was "slashed to death," according to The Daily Nation. Police have arrested 12 people for their involvement...

SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- A blackout of al-Qaida's main Web sites is in its 11th day, and officials think the forums may have been brought down in a cyberattack. While no one has claimed credit for disabling the sites..." SNIPPET: "The loss of information typically confuses and frustrates the readers of the Web sites. "It leaves the rank-and-file to guess which messages and which messengers are genuine al-Qaida, and provides undercover operators with new opportunities to disrupt the movement," said A. Aaron Weisburd, senior fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute."

I got myself a Twitter account just four weeks ago. It seems that my fortunes have taken a turn for the worse, having me barely edge out al-Shabaab, Islamist terrorists recent cause célèbre, which logged its first tweet on December 7. Al-Shabaab, or The Youth, is a militant Islamist group with ties to al-Qaeda that has laid siege to much of southern Somalia since 2006. The group is persistently fighting (and winning) an insurgency against the United Nations-backed Transitional Federal Government, which is contained in Somalias capital, Mogadishu. Still more pressingly, al-Shabaab has mounted attacks against African Union Mission in...

The girls voice dropped to a hush as she remembered the bright, sunny afternoon when she stepped out of her hut and saw her best friend buried in the sand, up to her neck. Her friend had made the mistake of refusing to marry a Shabab commander. Now she was about to get her head bashed in, rock by rock. Youre next, the Shabab warned the girl, a frail 17-year-old who was living with her brother in a squalid refugee camp. Several months later, the men came back. Five militants burst into her hut, pinned her down and gang-raped her,...

Note: Photo and Graphic Included. NOTE The following text is a quote: FIGHTING TERROR 14 Indicted for Supporting al Shabaab 08/05/10 Two Americans are under arrest and 12 other U.S. citizens have been charged with acts of terrorism that include providing money, personnel, and other material support to the Somali-based terrorist organization al Shabaab. Results of an FBI-led global investigation were announced today at Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, where indictments were unsealed charging individuals in Minnesota, Alabama, and California. Twelve of the 14 under indictment are fugitives believed to be in Somalia. About al Shabaab On Feb. 29,...

The Al-Shabab in Somalia has already achieved notoriety for blocking relief efforts to famine stricken residents because the aid originates in the Christian West. Today it received more publicity as Representative Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, began his hearings on Muslim radicalization by revealing that more than 40 Americans have been recruited to join the Islamic terror network in Somalia. "Our investigation into this threat has led to alarming findings: Notably, that al-Shabab has successfully recruited and radicalized more than 40 Muslim-Americans and 20 Canadians, who have joined the terror group inside Somalia, according to...

Residents believe the attacks targeted mosques run by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels, blamed for a roadside bombing a few hours before that killed a prominent cleric who was also a senior Puntland government official. ... "It appears to be a declaration of religious war," Mohamed Ali Yusuf, a Puntland security official... Earlier Saturday, a prominent moderate Sufi cleric who was a senior official in Puntland's justice and religion ministry was killed in the city after a remote controlled bomb exploded near his car, hours before the first mosque attack. "I have no doubt that al Shabaab is responsible for...

Note: Photo included. # SNIPPET: "Two French security advisers helping the Somali government have been kidnapped in the capital Mogadishu, French officials have said. Gunmen who were wearing police uniforms entered the hotel where the two were staying and took them away, eyewitnesses said. The abductions took place in a government-held part of Mogadishu. Islamist rebels are battling troops from the UN-backed interim government for control of the city." SNIPPET: "The French foreign ministry said the two advisers were in Mogadishu on an official mission to provide help to the government. They were seized at the Sahafi Hotel, which has...

Note: Video included at link. SNIPPET: "Now, law enforcement officials appear increasingly concerned Al-Shabaab members are trying to come back to America. But these members aren't disenchanted young men like Hassan, seeking to escape the terrorists' hold. Rather, the concern is that they are returning either to recruit more members or perhaps to plot attacks here." SNIPPET: "Al-Shabaab represents a "threat to the whole nation, all of the world," Ahmed told the IPT. "Everywhere they could recruit somebody they will try  Europe, North America, Australia, Africa And they want to disrupt world peace." Ahmed warned that Al-Shabaab's main focus in...

WASHINGTON - The man removed from an Aeromexico flight bound for Mexico City Sunday was the subject of a terror warning issued for the U.S.-Mexico border last week, senior U.S. counterterrorism officials told NBC News on Monday. Homeland Security had asked law enforcement in Houston to be on the lookout for a suspected member of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida ally based in Somalia, early last week, the sources said

The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.

Al-Qaeda has never attempted to seize and hold strategic territory, but this may be about to change, according to an audiotape message from the deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). In the 12-minute statement, Said al-Shihri (a.k.a. Sufyan al-Azidi) outlined a new strategy that would involve Islamist fighters from Somalia working in coordination with AQAP fighters in Yemen to secure both sides of the vital strait (al-Malahim Establishment for Media Production, February 8). Some 30% of the worlds annual trade passes through the narrow Bab al-Mandab (The Gate of Tears, thanks to its navigational hazards). Passing Djibouti...

Young Swedes were encouraged to join the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab by the Danish-Somali man who attacked Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard with an axe. Last winter, he visited Gothenburg in western Sweden together with another Danish-Somali man who later blew himself and 23 others up in a suicide bomb attack in the Somali capital of Mogadishu last month. The man reportedly visited two Gothenburg mosques in an attempt to recruit young Swedes to al-Shabaab. al-Shabaab has successfully recruited around 20 young people from Sweden, some of whom who have been killed in battle.

SNIPPET: "Counterterrorism officials are investigating a group of youths who allegedly left Canada for East Africa two weeks ago, amid concerns they may have gone to join the Somali militant group Al-Shabab. Two sources familiar with the case said investigators had been canvassing Toronto's large Somali-Canadian community for information about as many as five men who departed Canada together in early November. They are believed to have flown to Kenya, the sources said. Kenya borders the region of southern Somalia controlled by Al-Shabab, an Islamist militia aligned with al-Qaeda and sometimes likened to the Taliban." SNIPPET: ""Radicalization within the U.S....

"Somali jihadists forcing civilians to watch executions" SNIPPET: "Movies and television? No way. Executions? Bring the whole family -- or else! "Somalis 'made to view executions'," by Mary Harper for BBC News, October 25:" SNIPPET: "Hundreds of people in Somalia have been forced to watch Islamist militants executing two people accused of spying. People in Merca said al-Shabaab militia patrolled the town with loudspeakers, demanding they attend the executions. The militants also ordered schools to close for the day as they were keen for children to watch the two men being shot dead by a firing squad. Most of those...

A hardline Islamist group in Somalia has begun publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are 'deceptive'. The insurgent group Al Shabaab has sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to have a firm bust, residents claimed yesterday. The women are then inspected to see if the firmness is natural, or if it is the result of wearing a bra. If they are found wearing , they are ordered to remove it and shake their breasts, residents said. Al Shabaab, which seeks to impose a strict interpretation...

Al Shabaab extremists shoot 69-year-old after finding Bibles on him at checkpoint. NAIROBI, Kenya, September 18 (CDN) - The faith journey of a long-time underground Christian in Somalia ended in tragedy this week when Islamic militants controlling a security checkpoint killed him after finding Bibles in his possession. Militants from the Muslim extremist al Shabaab killed 69-year-old Omar Khalafe on Tuesday (Sept. 15) at a checkpoint they controlled 10 kilometers from Merca, a Christian source told Compass. A port city on the Indian Ocean 70 kilometers (45 miles) from Mogadishu, Merca is the main city of the Lower Shabele region....

Bantu woman shot after wife of militant confirmed she had Bibles. NAIROBI, Kenya, October 1 (CDN)  Islamic militants in Somalia this week killed a woman who led an underground Christian movement in the war-torn country. Sources told Compass that a leader of Islamic extremist al Shabaab militia in Lower Juba identified only as Sheikh Arbow shot to death 46-year-old Mariam Muhina Hussein at 2 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 28) in Marerey village after discovering she had six Bibles. Marerey is eight kilometers (five miles) from Jilib, part of the neighboring Middle Juba region. Local sources said that on Sunday...

For the first time, the FBI director has stated on the record that the Al Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab is no longer content to strike within the East African nation of Somalia.They could strike the United States. That grim assessment is the first time the FBI director or any other senior law enforcement or intelligence official has stated on the record that the Al Qaeda-linked group al-Shabaab is no longer content to strike within the East African nation of Somalia. During a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, FBI Director Robert Mueller was asked if members of al-Shabaab, which translates as...

Forget Lions and Tigers The Latest in Big Game thelastcrusade.org Somalia (MNN) â Somalia's Muslim militants are hunting down converts to Christianity. According to Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Al-Shabaab members have murdered 14 believers since July 15. Compass Direct News reports the September 15 shooting death of 69-year-old Omar Khalafe, an underground Christian who had Bibles in his possession.On the day of his death, Khalafe was carrying 25 Somali Bibles he hoped to deliver to an underground fellowship in Somalia. At a checkpoint controlled by al Shabaab--a rebel group linked with al Qaeda which has taken over large...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 24, 2009 PRESS RELEASE BROOKLYN RESIDENT INDICTED FOR CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER OVERSEAS AND CONSPIRACY TO PROVIDE MATERIAL SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS An indictment was unsealed in federal court this morning charging Betim Kaziu, a U.S. citizen and resident of Brooklyn, with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.1 Kaziu is scheduled to be arraigned later today before United States Magistrate Judge Joan M. Azrack, at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for...

Note: Photo included. Photo caption: "Hizbul Islam leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys." # A senior Islamist leader and ally of al Qaeda has called for additional suicide attacks against African Union peacekeepers operating in Mogadishu. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Hizbul Islam, or the Party of God, called for more suicide attacks during a sermon in the town of Elashabiyah, just outside Mogadishu. "I also call upon the people to carry out more attacks against the African forces; they came to Somalia to assist our enemy, kill them ... in any way possible and use suicide attacks to...

The following text (minus the graphics) is a quote: Eid gifts from the Jihadi Media that we can expect September 19, 2009 Posted by admin in : Al-Fallujah, Ansar al-Mujahideen Network, As-Sahab Media, Global Islamic Media Front, Jihad, Shabaab al-Mujahideen, Videos,trackback Here are some of the officially announced Eid gifts from the Jihadi Media: We can also expect something to come from al-Furqan Media, In Sha Allah.

MILITARY bases and navy ships will be turned into virtual fortresses under plans to beef-up security in the wake of a major terrorist plot. Taxi drivers and other members of the public will be banned from entering military bases without getting high-level clearance after an urgent review found Australia's frontline defence facilities were among the least protected in the world. The top-secret review also found Australia's top defence brass would be vulnerable to a terrorist strike and recommended their leafy military showpiece, at Duntroon in Canberra, be turned into a secure compound. Among sweeping reforms, the review calls for bases...

SNIPPET: "The two main Islamist terror groups battling the weak Somali government may merge into a single outfit. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Hizbul Islam or the Party of Islam, said he is working to unite his faction with Shabaab, an al Qaeda-backed Islamic terror group that has lobbied to join the international terrorist organization. Aweys said talks were proceeding and urged followers to continue to fight until they achieve "victory over enemies" of Islam."" SNIPPET: "Al Qaeda has increasingly focused on Somalia as being a major theater in their efforts to drive the West from African, the...

Pajamas Media | Friday, December 12, 2008 The funeral for Shirwa Ahmed last week in Burnsville, Minnesota, punctuated a growing national security threat metastasizing inside the U.S.  one Homeland Security and law enforcement authorities have quickly taken note of. Ahmed, who killed himself in a suicide bombing attack in Somalia in October, is just one of up to 40 men from the Twin Cities area who have disappeared and are feared to have returned to their homeland for training with the al-Shabaab terrorist group to wage jihad. The FBI is investigating similar disappearances in other major Somali communities in...

April 03, 2009 Think Islamist extremists don't have their eyes on conquering Europe? Think again. This video produced by Ibnul Akwa links the recent successes of Shabaab in Somalia and of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Eastern North Africa with the eventual reconquista of Spain. There's nothing original here...

More on this story. It seems like there were more arrests involving US citizens traitors, specifically Somali-Americans. Somaliland authorities arrested 11 Somali-Americans in connection to the smuggling of anti-aircraft weapons. The 11 Somali-Americans were trained by al Shabaab, aka the African Taliban, and according to authorities were supposed to carry out attacks in the capital of Somaliland. So that brings the total of Somali-Americans arrested in Somaliland up to 15. At least five more traitors are on the loose somewhere on the horn of Africa. It's a good thing al Shabaab's website has been shut down, this should cut down...

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia took control of the last stronghold of Somalia's troubled Transitional Federal Government today, just hours after Ethiopian troops withdrew. Forces from Shabaab rolled into the southern town of Baidoa less than one day after Ethiopian soldiers pulled out of the town. Shabaab forces clashed with "a group of rag-tag clan militias" that attempted to stop their advance, Garowe reported. The militia fled after a brief gun battle. Four people were reported killed and 10 more were wounded in the brief fighting. Shabaab took control of strategic locations in Baidoa, including the parliament, police stations, and...

Our friends at the NEFA foundation have released a translation of a communique from the "Shebaab al-Mujahideen Movement in Somalia" condemning al Jazeera for passing along false information that they condemned piracy off the coast of Somalia. The message from the Shabaab stops short of supporting piracy, but it goes to great lengths in saying that the official position of the al Qaeda affiliated group is that they have not condemned the hijacking of a Saudi oil tanker, which kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?

U.S. war planes killed an Islamist rebel said to be al Qaeda's leader in Somalia and at least a dozen other people on Thursday in Washington's biggest blow against an insurgency raging since 2007. The rebels said Aden Hashi Ayro -- who led al Shabaab militants blamed for attacks on government troops and their Ethiopian allies -- died in the first major success for a string of U.S. air-strikes on Somali insurgents in the last year. "Infidel planes bombed Dusamareb," Shabaab spokesman Mukhtar Ali Robow told Reuters by phone, referring to a town in central Somalia, where body parts lay...

NAIROBI, March 18 (Reuters) - The United States has formally designated Somalia's al Shabaab militants a foreign terrorist organisation to increase pressure on what Washington says is al Qaeda's main link in the Horn of Africa nation. The al Shabaab is the militant wing of the Somalia Islamic Courts Council that took over most of southern Somalia for the second half of 2006, until Somalia's interim government and its Ethiopian military allies routed the group in a two-week war. The group, whose leader Aden Hashi Farah Ayro survived a U.S. airstrike in January 2007, is thought by security experts to...